Improvement in piano-forte agraffes



H, KRANI-CH & J. BACH. Pianoforte Agrafe;

NO lESZ 8291 Patented May4,187 5.

UNITED STATES PATENT @erica HELLMUTH KRANICH AND JACQUES BACH, 0F NEWT YGRK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT lN NANO-FORTE AGRAFFES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 162,829, dated May Ll, l 75; ajplcation tiled January '26, 1875.

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that we, HELLMUTH KRANIGH and JACQUES BACH, of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Piano-Forte Agraffes, of which the following' is a specification:

Our invention consists in a piano-forte agraffe of novel construction, provided on two opposite sides with transverse grooves, preferably having longitudinally-concave backs, and on two intervening sides, at the end of said grooves, with ribs or projections, which, when the agrat't'e is set, so that the grooves extend at an angle to the strings, serve as hooks and cramp the string laterally in place and against the end edges ofthe concave backs of the grooves, whereby a simple and efficient agra'lie is produced, which maybe firmly secured in place, which will obviate the neces sity for a straining-bridge, and prevent the jingling and rattling of the strings incident to agraiiies of ordinary construction. These improvements also cause the strings, when struck by their hammer, to give a full, clear sound, and provide for the speedy removal and replacement of the strings whe-never necessary.

Having briefly indicated the prominent features of our invention, we now proceed to describeit in detail, with especial reference to the particular example which is illustrated by the accompanying drawing.

ln this drawing, Figure l is a perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of an agratl'e embodying our invention. Fig. 2 isa transverse section of a portion of a piano-torte, provided with an agraife embodying our invention. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of such an agi/affe, with strings applied to it; and Figs. et and 5 are perspective views of agraft'es of slightly modified forni.

Similar letters of .reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

An agraffe embodying our invention may be made in various ways, but, preferably, will have a cubical head, like the head A of the a-graife illustrated bythe drawing, and a screwthreaded shank, B, for screwing it to its support. Upon two opposite sides its head is provided with parallel grooves, which, preferably, have righimingled sides, like grooves a a, shown in the dirawing, Figs. l, 2, and 4, but which, obviously, may have outwardlyconverging sides to prevent the strings, which they receive, from slipping out of place, as illustrated by Fig. a. When these grooves are made with right-angled sides, as in Figs. l, 2, and 3, ribs or other suitable projections are, preferably, provided above and below the ends of the grooves on the head of the agratfe, as shown at b b. A convenient way of forming such ribs is to hollow out the face of the agraffC-nead, at which the grooves terminate, as shown in the drawing g, Fig. l. 1When the agrat'fe is set properly, as shown in Fig. 2, with its grooves oblique to the strings, two ofthe end edges c and cl of such grooves, located diagonally opposite to each other, bear on the strings, one above and the other below, and the projections or ribs b b cramp the strings against the backs of the grooves, and thus, securing the strings against lateral displacement, preclude them from rattling or jingling in the agraft'e.

rFliese grooves aftbrding the strings two bearing-points, as just explained, obviate the necessity for a bridge, and simplify the construction ofthe agraffe. Preferably the backs of the grooves are longitudinally concave, as shown in Fig. 3, so that the strings bear only against two isolated edges; and hence, when struck they will resound with a full, clear tone.

lt will be readily understood that instead of these grooves with concave backs pairs or sets of projections or hooks c c on the sides ofthe agrafle may be employed, as shown in Fig. 5.

lt is obvious that the strings oi" a piano-forte may more easily and expeditiously be removed frein grooves in the agrai't'es than from holes therein, and that they may be much more easily inserted in such grooves than through holes, and, therefore, that an a graffe provided with grooves as a means for holding the strings is more convenient than one having holes for this purpose.

As this improved agrafte, by affording the strings two diagonallyopposite bearing-points,

obviates the necessity for carrying a bridge, it may be readily adjusted into position for use by simply turning' it a half a turn instead of turning it entirely round, as is necessary Whenabridge is used to bring it into the proper position. An agraffe of this kind may be set far enough hack from the edge of the rail to insure it a rxn support, and yet will project so t'ar over the rail that the hammer inay strike the strings close to it, and produce a clear inton-ation.

In order that the grooves may extend obliquely to the strings the agralt'e is preferably set at angle, as shown in Fig. 2; but it is obvious that instead its head may be bent, or the grooves ar anged so that the same result will be attained.

What we claim as our invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A reversible piano-forte agraft'e, A B,

jections, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

HELLMUTH KRANICH. JACQUES BACH. Witnesses:

ALBIN KRANICH, MICHAEL MArsoH. 

